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I had such a fun time at the gathering!!! XD I was the Kagura from Fruits Basket!! ^^ Wasn't expecting so many people at the gathering, but big gatherings are always fun!! :D

And winning the Marmalade Boy DVDs was certainly a plus. <33 One day I need to finally cosplay Miki!! ^^

Thank you so much for attending!  I loved that we had such a wide representation of four decades of entertainment.

I was really surprised and excited to see such a large turnout as the Old School Gathering can be hard to predict.  I think a portion of that was really thanks to the Cosplay Gatherings Department having a clearly laid out and easy to read schedule and asking for Facebook events pages.  The events page made it so easy to universally promote the gathering online and without their suggestion I probably wouldn't have made one.

I had forgotten just how much stuff I had put aside to give away!  As I would trade items or end up with duplicates, I would just put them aside and eventually there was this huge bag of stuff to give away at the gathering.  Probably no random giveaway next year as instead I plan on having a little commemorative item for everyone - planned on that this year in addition but didn't have time to get them made.

I had a lot of fun! Thank you for hosting it. :] I'm going to watch the Project A-ko DVD I won in the raffle once I have some free time. It was easily the best gathering I went to all weekend, and the fact that I'm laughing and/or smiling in all the candid shots of the gathering that I'm in says a lot, I think.

And thank you so much! I'm honestly not a big fan of the series (shoujo ain't my jam), but I love her character a lot, so I wanted to do right by her with my costume. :]

(Also, not sure if anyone noticed, since this is such a tiny detail, but the sword I carry with Oscar is actually Juri Arisugawa's sword, from Revolutionary Girl Utena...mostly, I didn't have time to make a new sword for Oscar, haha)

Oh, no problem at all, thank you!  I was stoked to see so many people attend.  When I saw you I thought, "Utena? ..no!" and then my mind quickly ran through all the anime I've taken a peek at over the past two months, "Princess Knight.. no, Rayearth.. no, ...The Rose of Versailles!"

Shinya Arino
Yu Suzuki
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - for MusicFest as well.
Tsukasa Hojo
Mamoru Oshii

I heard there were some misprint issues such as this, things like Fan Name and Real Name being switched, different character sets between the two systems leading to certain special characters being printed as "?", names getting mixed up in groups, stuff like that.

Also thanks again for coming over to the Old School Gathering, your Lady Oscar was freaking spectacular in how ornate and accurate you looked - really amazing.  I caught a little of The Rose of Versailles on Monday morning in the Nostalgia Room to refresh myself of the series a bit (I really tried to do this with everything I saw at the OSG that was being screened at Fanime) and yeah, pretty incredible.

Updated the first post with the relevant link for all the pictures my co-host took.  This will be cross-posted with the main Fanime pictures thread once the permanent Facebook gallery is set up, this should be done by Sunday.  At the present time, all pictures can be viewed and downloaded through the posted smugmug link.

Thank you again for attending the 2016 OSG!

Edited by me, I just need to drop this.  Everyone knows there were reg problems and they need to be fixed.

The Facebook post that was removed explained the technical difficulties of the new registration system (change of companies, network problems), included tips on how attendees could help expedite registration (having the new barcode ready and photo ID out), and expressed appreciation for attendees who were understanding toward registration staff (who are awesome) despite their wait.

I apologize again for going off the deep end earlier.

Edited by me, I just need to drop this.  Everyone knows there were reg problems and they need to be fixed.

[two weeks from today]

Pictures of the gathering taken by my co-host, Captain Shinobu Nagumo, can be viewed here - https://mokkori.smugmug.com/Fanime-Old-School-Gathering/

This link will be active for two weeks from today.  Once FanimeCon Staff pictures are uploaded and the link provided, I will post it here as well.  Thank you again for attending the 2016 OSG!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 2016 OSG!  Thank you equally as much for putting up with my unusually quiet and raspy voice, as I'm in the tail end of a sinus reaction that crept up on Wednesday night and has exhausted me every day since.  I swear, I'm usually 300% louder with 500% more energy.  ...that sounds like either a Japanese coffee or pachinko advertisement.

I really cannot express how much it means to me to have had so many people attend this gathering.  I hope to see you all again next year for the 2017 OSG - the 35th anniversary of Japan's favorite working-class video game hero, Dig Dug!

Once the pictures my co-host took are uploaded, I will post the link here.  Additionally once FanimeCon staff pictures are up, I will do the same and post the link here.

See you space cowboy...

See you all later today!  May registration go smoothly for you all.

Edited by me, I just need to drop this.  Everyone knows there were reg problems and they need to be fixed.  I do apologize.

Ok, just got off the phone with CMR. The most pleasant communication with anyone I have had so far. Not being sarcastic, I am serious.

The person I talked to took the situation quite seriously and said that CMR had blocked off rooms for all the Fanime congoers that reserved rooms and should not be saying that they had no room for me.

I also informed her that the Fairmont also said they contacted multiple people. So I told her to expect more calls. She said the director would be in around 9am and would have the director contact the Fairmont on my behalf.

When I told her that they said they could move me to a hotel 4 miles away and take a 25 minute shuttle to the con. FINALLY.... Someone to agree it is totally unacceptable to go from being at the venue to taking a 25 minute shuttle.

So we shall see around 9am how this is going to play out.

That is one of the big things about CMR compared to about anyone else involved when there are problems like this - you can actually reach them on the phone, they answer, and actually attempt to resolve your issues.

Less than 72 hours to go!   :D

Hmmm... that little system this morning did pretty much nothing.  Wind is looking like it'll be about the same, would be nice if it would keep up.

Many - https://www.facebook.com/notes/fanimecon-cosplay-gatherings/final-gatherings-list-for-fanime-2016/1374494095900906

I've written up a short PSA about being sure to read the new email and bring that barcode and have it queued up on tumblr, so hopefully the word gets out and too many people don't end up with the old QR codes (and then that causing a mess).

Excellent.  I've done something similar on the unofficial Fanime Facebook group.

i did email. Them back regarding group badges and they said all badges can be picked up with just the leaders Barcode but since they sent out one for each member as well I'd print all just to be safe

Awesome, thank you for the information.  Amazed they replied so quickly considering how long it took to hear back previously!

Reminds me of the customer service agent for TUK Shoes - I swear it's ONE person who answers all their calls.

I got another email as well. 2 emails, one for each member of my group. My other group member will be there with me, but I wonder how that will work for group leaders of larger groups?

I still have the first barcode I got from my inital email from Experient and that has both my group members on it. I wonder why the new emails broke up the groups?

Maybe it's their way of covering everyone since this change / mass notification came so late?  I'm going to bring the original e-mail with both people on it myself, as well as the individual one, and present the printout with both of us on it first.  I mean, both names are on there and the numbers are sequential, I don't see why that would be an issue even if "my" code only triggers "my" badge.

I'm kinda over all the drama and am just looking forward to unloading a bunch of my stuff at swap meet.

Pretty much except I'm looking forward to buying a bunch of stuff at Swap Meet.  It's like Fanime is having a midlife crisis this year or something.  ;D

I just received my "Final Confirmation" emails.  I'm a group leader and they sent me a separate email for each person in my group ... so I'm not sure if that means I'll have to present each barcode separately when I go pick up the badges.

I got that before when they "re-sent" my confirmation yesterday.  One e-mail (five times) with everyone, and then one e-mail with just the other person in my two-person group.  I'm assuming your numbers are all sequential?  My two numbers are.  I'm printing them both out and if there's any issue with the "main" barcode giving me both badges then I'll raise a stink with them.

[Completely irrational joke:]

Going to be serious problems if people who paid good money for themselves and others, and who do not receive an update, are not provided their badges at the con.   A ripe situation for a class action suit . . . I paid over $200 for group registration and I will be more than a little upset if I'm given ANY hassles about my badges.  This should have been through out well in advance of any change in the registration group.

It seems to be smoothing out, late, but smoothing out.  I was just sent the same e-mail again, an hour apart by the timestamp.  Fanime has commented (there's a screen shot in a post above) that even if there is some issue getting you your barcode, they will be able to look up your information and get you your badge.  Of course, that slows things down.

Don't get me wrong, if there are any problems they (Experient staff, NOT Fanime staff / volunteers) will hear about it.  I'm a big Sicilian guy and I'm far beyond not calling people out on their BS these days.

Completely irrational joke:  I was joking with my girlfriend that I picture a three line scenario - Barcode, QR Code, No Code.  Barcode, you walk up, staff checks your ID, scans your barcode, gives you your badges.  No Code, staff looks up your name in the database, matches your ID, and prints your badge or prints a barcode.  QR Code, it's like the freaking NOC List from the first Mission Impossible movie, you have staff trying to match your "code name" (QR code) with your "real name" (barcode) so you can get your badge.

I'm bringing copies of everything I have and if there's an issue with it not flagging both my badges I'll have the "re-send" e-mail from before that shows everything as well as the old QR code e-mail that shows both people.  Of course, we're all talking worst case scenarios now.  New e-mails ARE being sent out, the lack of communication up until this point is the real problem.  I'm glad this thread got people talking about this and helping each other out.